Fallout Equestria: Space Captain Andromeda

by Weavers of Dreams

Chapter Sixteen: Andromeda's Strain: PART I

"Just so you know, I blame you for this."

"Just how is this my fault?" Andromeda asked the sour-looking changeling to her right. The magical energy holding her in place on the floor only gave her a limited view of the small metal cell they were in, only allowing her to see the windowless door and her companion. The only light came from their bonds and the only outside noise was the wind coming through the vent in the ceiling.

"Well," Missy began, thinking for a moment, "Let's see. You decided to stand and fight a giant machine when you could have just run away like I suggested. Your shield is impervious for crying out loud." Andromeda blushed a bit, she still hadn't told anypony it was a high form of technomancy, considering it classified by the Ministries for now. "You then went and dragged me into the fight. Then overreacted to it calling you a citizen of the republic, declaring all of us enemy's of the state, while at the same time giving time for that thing to call for back-up."

"It's not my fault you stayed," Andromeda snapped at her, wanting to cross her legs in front of her chest, but found herself unable to move.

"Uh, no I couldn't," the changeling spat angrily. "You're stupid geass doesn't let anypony disobey an order from you? I mean, For crying out loud, when we first met I would have shot you sooner. But your stupid little spell kept my magic still until you got angry and lost some control. Lucky me, I guess, probably would have wound up shooting myself and you wouldn't have healed me."

Missy looked over at Andromeda and was taken aback by the alarmed confusion in her eyes. "Um... why do you look like you have no idea what I'm talking about?" It took another moment for things to fall into place. "Oh my bucking flank. No... your bucking clueless flank, face, and brain. You don't even know you're doing it, do you?"

"Doing what?" Andromeda demanded, really not sure what her companion was talking about. "I don't know any mind-control spells. I'm a housewife, for crying out loud. I know a bushel spells for entertaining guests, foals, and heightening my husband's arousal when I'm in a really frisky mood... or when he asks. I'm a good wife."

Missy stared at the strange mare with wide eyes. "A housewife?"

Andromeda gave a look and snorted. "What? That's what surprises you? Not the fact I'm a straight nymphomaniac?" She shook her head and looked away from her friend. "If I knew any mind-control spells, you could be sure I'd have a very quiet house with no relatives that come for surprise visits. And certainly no nosey mother-in-law."

Missy was still locked in surprise. There was too much sincerity in Andromeda's voice and words for it to be a lie. "Just... um. Mercy, look at me. I said look at me?"

Andromeda complied with a sigh and gave her a long scowl that went ignored.

"How have you kept your hair so perfect this entire time?"

"Passive glammer enchantments inside the collar of my suit," Andromeda said matter-of-factly. then a thought suddenly struck her, one that she didn't like. "Are you saying my suit..."

"...Is infused with some other spells you're unaware of?" Missy finished for her with a nod. "Yes. Now, I have to know. Where did you get it?"

Andromeda shut her mouth tight and looked at the door, closing her eyes tightly. She wanted to tell her friend where she had gotten the suit, but she couldn't break her oath. She was a loyal citizen who desired the well-being of Equestria, no matter what it cost her. Her new friendship... even if that friendship may have been made in a less than ethical way with this new theory. The more she thought about it, the more it was starting to make sense. Everypony was nice to her at Command, even that stallion she had punched her first day. In fact, everypony seemed to go out of their way to make sure she was doing well. But, there were times she wasn't wearing the suit and they acted the same. What had happened previous to receiving...

"The neural talismans," she suddenly blurted out in sudden realization. Unbeknownst to her, she had actually frightened Missy with her sudden outburst.

"What's wrong with you?" Missy demanded. "You were silent for almost an hour, and then you start shouting. It didn't even look like you were breathing."

"The talismans the doctors injected into my brain," Andromeda blurted out before realizing what she was saying. She bit her lip and looked at Missy who started to look worried on a number of levels.

"So you're saying you're a lab freak on top of everything else?" The changeling was beginning to sound as if she were at her wit's end. It was bad enough this mare was wandering Equestria with some sort of unrestrained passive geass, but now she was starting to sound more like a machine than a pony. Talismans in her head? For crying out loud.

Andromeda seemed to be lost in her own thoughts at the moment, not hearing her friend's words. "Maybe it's an unintentional side effect, or maybe some sort of cosmic ray hit them. Cosmic nothin', that place was full of radiation. And that stupid pink gas that was leaking everywhere, and..."

"What?" Missy suddenly shrieked in terror, attempting to move away from the strange mare. But the magical bonds held her firm, making her struggles futile and slightly entertaining.

This carried on for a couple minutes with Andromeda utterly confused as to what brought upon this sudden bought of horror. The only other time she'd seen her friend this terrified was after she had shot herself. Not even collapsing the prospect of being buried alive in a landslide, or fighting a giant robot had shaken her this much.

"Feeling better now?" Mercy asked sympathetically. Missy hadn't so much as calmed down, as she more than likely had merely exhausted herself from the intense struggle she had put up.

"Get away from me," Missy managed to wheeze out, her lungs sore from the screaming. Andromeda took a look around, confused as to why no guards had shown up. Perhaps a soundproofing spell. But why soundproof a cell?

"I would love to be able to move," she said in a soothing tone, "but, seeing as we're both in the same predicament, and something is obviously wrong with you, I'm staying right here. Please, tell me what's wrong. I am your friend after all."

"You're a geassed, absurdly-dressed, undead, lab rat of a lunatic, that's what's wrong," Missy snapped, struggling again.

"I'd smack some sense back into you if I could move," Andromeda muttered in exasperation. Why was her friend acting like she was in the same room as an armed bio-weapon?

It was at that point that the cell door opened and in filed three ponies. Two of whom wore a kind of light armor with what looked to be Ministry Mare Applejack's cutie mark on the flank plates. That really made the wheels turn in Mercy's head. Their heavy battle saddles were equipped with a shotgun each and stun lances. Between the two stoic soldiers was a silver pegasus with a black and white striped mane and tail in a clean labcoat. This pegasus seemed to soak up all the attention in the room just by his appearance, and those golden eyes staring out from behind a pair of goggles didn't help his creepy appearance anymore either. He was grinning like a pervert on a sugar high.

"I don't think I'm young enough to your liking," Andromeda muttered without thinking, her eyes locking upon that face.

She had apparently said something meaningful as the two armored ponies looked between each other and the pegasus. The pegasus himself just laughed and shrugged it off. Missy, on the other hoof, found herself now wanting to lean closer to her companion, the pegasus was terrifying her.

"Oh, I am going to have so much fun with you two," he said, leaning down and tapping Mercy's helmet with a hoof in consideration. His ears twitched violently as though he were hearing something painful. "Interesting. Sub-corporeal sapphire-silver lamination lens. I thought that was only a theory, an aloof fantasy of over-eager grad-students."

---STRESS DETECTED---ADMINISTRING TESTOSTERONE---

Andromeda turned towards Peppy with a scowl. "Not now, Peppy. I'm in the middle of an interrogation."

The pegasus turned his attention to the pipbuck. His eyes went wide at the sight of it. "Impossible. No... where'd you get that?"

Andromeda growled. "It was a gift from some dear friends." The word friends was actually starting to taste sour on her tongue. If she was really unconsciously manipulating ponies to like her, then could she really call them friends? Circumstances being what they were or not, she wasn't going to give this stallion any satisfaction.

The pegasus turned back to look Andromeda in the eyes, scowling menacingly. "Don't you dare play games with me, little mare. I think we both know what that is. I suggest you surrender it."

---UNABLE TO COMPLY---

Both the unicorn and the pegasus looked at the purple words displayed on the helmet's surface. The pegasus seemed capable of reading backwards just fine. His smile broadened considerably. "I knew it." He drew himself back up to his full height and spread his wings in a jovial display.

"It's magically bonded to you," he declared aloud with a self-satisfied chuckle. "Oh that is truly precious."

Andromeda's face twisted in confusion. "Uuuuh... what? Are you okay? You seem a little..."

"Insane?"

All eyes turned on Missy, who was biting her lips in terror at what she had just blurted out. Her breathing became shallow as the pegasus wings folded back against his sides and he shifted his stance to look her right in the eye. She held her breath when he used a hoof to lift up his goggles and lean his head forward until their muzzles were touching. She kept staring into his narrowed golden eyes that seemed to pierce her own like daggers. The tension could have been cut with a knife.

"I was going to say outright bonkers," Andromeda piped up in the silence. She held back on looking concerned as she got the reaction she had intended. The stallion's attention was now fixed upon her again. Whatever he had intended for her friend was now swayed a different direction. Whatever he could deal out, she was sure she could handle as long as she was locked inside the suit.

The pegasus' mouth curled up into a grin, surprising both the mares, and making the two soldiers jerk a little, their faces unseen beneath the helmets. "Oh, little fillies. It's so nice to see your healthy loyalties to each other. Quite refreshing, considering the other abominations we get in here. It'll also make the interrogations all the easier."

"In-interrogations?" Missy squeaked out in terror.

"Of course," the pegasus returned with a chuckle. "You both ensured those criminals got away safely, along with a living abomination of dark magic." He leaned close to Missy with a smirk. "With a changeling to boot." He tilted his head curiously. "The anti-magic field should have made you change back. Do you possess some artifact or anti-anti-magic spell? If you're willing to comply, I can make the experiments and interrogations go a little more... pleasurable..."

Missy growled and spat a glob of green mucus upon the stallion's face, baring her teeth in rabid aggression. "I'd sooner masturbate with a hoof full of rusty screws."

The pegasus reached up with a hoof and peeled the quickly hardening mucus off his face and stuffed it into a breast pocket. "In the name of science, that can be arranged, madam."

The two soldiers activated their lances and moved to shock Missy, who was struggling harder than ever to get away from them. But before they could reach her, a sound not usually heard started to echo throughout the cell. All eyes, wide in shock, turned to the mare in the costume.

She was laughing her head off.

It wasn't some jolly laugh either. It was a malevolent and sharp sound, full of vengeance and spite. The mare turned her head to look at the pegasus, her eyes suddenly flickering green and red, almost too quick for them to see. But her grin, cruel and full of wrath, remained upon her face, causing the soldiers to take a step back.

"You're one of those stallions that likes taking advantage of helpless mares," she voice a deep hiss. "There is only one stallion who managed to pierce this armor. I turned down his proposals and buried him under a mountain of stone and dirt. Imagine what I'll do to you, who would dare go after a mare in chains."

"She's hardly a mare," the pegasus exclaimed with a roll of his eyes. "This is a changeling. A monster that can hide anywhere and make you think..."

Andromeda was still laughing. "That may be, but Missy has proven herself a loyal friend to me. Save a couple rough disagreements we've had," she remembered their first meeting and her reaction to Wisp, "she has always come through, even when it wasn't expected."

"Oh really?" the stallion asked, leaning in closer and narrowing his eyes. "Did she do it of her own volition, or does she have to do it?"

Andromeda was shocked. It was almost as if he had heard her and Missy's entire conversation. The thought of holding a geass over somepony made her stomach twist in sickness.

With a snort, the pegasus turned back to the door, signaling the two soldiers to follow. "We'll find out soon enough. We'll be arriving at Spectra Labs soon enough, and I, Doctor Atmosphere, will take great pleasure in ripping that magnificent piece of technology off your body."

With that, the door was slammed shut, leaving the two friends alone.

Andromeda scowled darkly and her eyes flashed again, this time a puff of ethereal purple smoke crawling out as well. "That was strange. It was as if he just came in to gloat, give us a bunch of information, including his name, and just leave. Why?"

"Who cares why?" Missy demanded, terror still emanate in her voice.

"At least you're not scared to death of me anymore," Andromeda said with a sigh. She was slightly relieved at that. It would have been a terrible thing to try and escape with an insane companion. "I was starting to worry that imprisonment had broken your brain."

"Okay, fine," the changeling muttered, "you brought up some good points. You're just about indestructible, and that stupid cult leader managed to get a drop of blood from you without becoming a gurgling pile of mush, so obviously your suit probably kept the gas from reaching your flesh." She huffed and looked away. "I guess being strapped down has gotten me on edge."

"Oh?" Andromeda asked, giving her a sympathetic look. "Care to elaborate?"

Missy looked at her and then at the space between her hooves and sighed. "Fine. Might as well. At the Miserables, being strapped down wasn't exactly an uncommon thing for me."

"Wait," Andromeda said, tilting her head in confusion. "You named yourself after a brothel? After a whorehouse? I thought you were married to..."

"A strange customer's weird fetish," Missy said quickly with a horrifying cringe, shifting her eyes around rapidly. "Don't ask."

Andromeda really wanted to know, while at the same time really hoping she never would.

"To continue," her friend said, clearing her throat, "the last night there, the last night I'd been strapped down. There were three mares, barely out of fillyhood, triplets also, came in to celebrate their birthday. They wanted to do something really special. It was... it... was... I-I can't."

"You don't have to," Andromeda said comfortingly. "If it hurts to much, I never... ever want to hear it. Never feel forced to reveal your own personal secrets."

"No. You've done so much for me that you don't even know. You deserve to know at least a little," Missy shuddered and then swallowed. "What I said to that pegasus, about rusty screws... yeah. They wanted something really special."

Andromeda gasped in horror. "They didn't."

"And more," Missy growled as hot tears began to form in her eyes from the painful memory. Then a smile formed and her face grew dark. "But when that one brought the knife to a certain point, I jerked the ropes, cutting myself free, and killed everyone, took their skins, and then set the place ablaze to reduce their sins to ashes."

"I'm so sorry for you," Andromeda said, lowering her eyes to the floor. "That really must have lowered your opinion of us ponies quite a bit, living the way you did."

Missy nodded and sighed with a faraway look on her face. "Until I met a mare who could look death in the face and scold it like a foal with his hoof caught in the cookie jar." She looked at Andromeda and managed a good-natured chuckle. "And what of your opinion on changelings?"

Andromeda didn't waste a second. "Rude, angsty, violent, and willing to sell each other out. And that's just one third of the changelings I've heard about. Your parents on the other hoof... eh, they really bring down my opinion. So I won't hold the bar too high for you."

Missy gave mock grunt of anger and lightly punched her friend on the shoulder. Then she froze and stared at her now-free hoof, touching the padded shoulder of her friend. Her eyes met those of one smiling mare.

"How...?" she found a boot inserted in her mouth.

"Shhhh," Mercy said, holding her other hoof up to her mouth in a maternal gesture. She brought up a single, tiny digital cube of magic.

"I've been jimmying this under the floor ever since he left," she whispered with a touch of schoolfilly glee. "Couldn't be sure when somepony might barge in, so I held off on it, but once they left I, figured it was perfect timing."

"But-but," Missy gaped in amazement. "How did you do that? The binding spell disabled our magic."

"That's right," Andromeda chuckled as she stood up and stretched out her vertebrae. All of them popped like a telescope. Such simple pleasures. "But my suit has magic of it's own. Handy little work-around, dontcha think?"

"Where'd you learn that?" Missy asked as she too got up. "I'm sorry, but you never struck me as the smartest mare in the world."

Andromeda shrugged it off. "Eh, Batmane, issue forty-seven. When Batmane was trapped the Jesters, bound in chains in a pit that was slowly filled with water. He broke off a piece of his utility belt and picked the locks, beat up the Jester, and saved Goatham City."

"Comic books?" Missy deadpanned as she flapped her wings up tot he vent on the ceiling and began working at it. She had seen a few in her life. Plus there was always that customer that wanted to do some role-playing.

"You'd be surprised at what you could learn," the strange mare said as she formed some large DMCs, and stacked them atop of each other to form a staircase she could climb up.

Soundproof cells were great idea if a pony wanted a quiet ship, and no pony would hear if a particularly attractive prisoner was being taken advantage of, or tortured for information. It didn't, however, make for a very good idea when it made prisoners' activities go unnoticed. But then, no pony ever thought that the bindings were escapable.

All the same, Andromeda caught the vent cover in her magic before it hit the floor, just in case life planned on flipping them the metaphorical birdie.

Missy full up into the ventilation and then turned around and offered a hoof to her friend, who quickly took it and was pulled up. "You're lighter than you look, you know."

Mercy rolled her eyes and scrunched up her face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Missy gave a small laugh, and then held up a hoof to her lips to indicate they should be silent now. Both ponies activated their horns to light the way and crouched down to move quietly through the dusty ducts, leaving behind the empty cell. The airship rocked gently as they sought out an escape.

Comments

[Carrier]

Did I miss something? How were they captured?

[Weavers of Dreams]

6470980 Don't worry, you didn't miss anything. It's going to be explained.

[Cloverleaf]

The Factory Lives.....

[Weavers of Dreams]

6471365 We're resurrecting a bunch of old things

[Cloverleaf]

6471595 is it bad i had a real strange Rp session with someone playing an androidified dr atmo and me as a changeling herbalist with them 'collaborating' in using spectra to try to cure taint mutations, but my ling had no clue exactly what spectra was? Cause it's skewing my vision of the good mad doc in your fic here.

[Weavers of Dreams]

6471811 Yes. Seek an alternative cure source and then stab the doc in the back.

If you're against doing that, try stabbing him in the front.

Or, see if Pinkie needs help in the basement.

[Cloverleaf]

6471912 It was a FoE Rp, pinkie be dead.

[Weavers of Dreams]

6471925 Not if you take enough Ment-Als

[Cloverleaf]

6471932 My Herbalist had 10 int, lck, and per. Mint-als had no effect on him (he has 2 str, end, and chr to compensate)

[DF]

I have not read a single word of this story (yet), but I love that cover picture.

[Dice Warwick]

Okay, I'm all caught up. But sadly my interest is starting to wain, it's mostly about me not able to keep up with whats going on. The story jumps around a lot, and between characters even more. I love the idea, but sadly it's just not doing it for me. I'll still read it, but I cant say the story is in my top ten.

[SurpriseKitty]

Hm, Mercy could probably use the immense firepower of her ship to bring all of Equestria under one banner, and maybe try and bring back the glory that was old-Equestria. Her pip-buck contains blueprints, doesn't it? It has to contain some that could help with that, right?

Or even better - She could carry out her mission, and wipe those Zebra scum from the face of the Wasteland. They caused the war, and some of them are still alive, after all. Maybe large-scale orbital bombardment and nuclear fire would do the trick.

[Weavers of Dreams]

6569940 Now-now, it's called megaspells, not nuclear

[SurpriseKitty]

I've been wondering though, is she a ghoul or not? Being in space, her body would be perfectly preserved, I doubt her health enchantments would allow degradation of her body. To top it off, apparently testosterone and adrenaline still effect her, which would imply that her body is functioning - At least to a degree. Is she really deceased, or is her pipbuck playing a sick joke on her? I would believe either option.

6570146
I noticed that you didn't say she didn't have such firepower onboard

[Weavers of Dreams]

6570294 She's actually something a little different than what everyone is expecting

[AlmanacP]

Your book has been advertised on the new facebook group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/foebooks/ :)

[Weavers of Dreams]

6577254 Awesome

[LostArchivist]

I like the fact that she literally causes people to end up holding the Villain Ball in her presence (and seemingly Narrative Causality, too...)

Also, yeah. I forget what chapter, but I did notice the name of that one building. Figures THAT would survive.